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It doesn’t have the satirical heft of its original 1978 inspiration. But Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, released 20 years ago, is an exceptional horror movie. The opening stands out as particularly terrifying, introducing the idea of sprinting zombies. And although what follows that isn’t high art, per se, it is compulsively watchable. It’s visually engrossing; the blood that squirts out of people’s heads—and the gore that spills out of people’s guts—look very real thanks to an emphasis on practical effects over CGI.
The movie also has some wit about it. The writer is Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy mastermind and DC Studios co-head James Gunn. Back in 2004, he was best known for writing the script for Scooby-Doo (2002). Then Dawn of the Dead arrived, giving us an look at what Gunn could do outside of the kid-friendly circle.
As for director Zack Snyder, Dawn of the Dead was his directorial debut. And though he’s gone on to have a very successful career, many would argue that this remains his best, most grounded effort. It’s plain fun, and everything exists in the movie to serve that purpose; it has almost no pretension to speak of.
Get your running shoes on. Here, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, is our trivia and Easter egg round-up for Dawn of the Dead (2004).
